grand master of maryland honored
There are three large plaques, one for Grand Masters, one for Grand Secretaries and Grand Treasurers and one for Grand Lecturers. These plaques indicate that since 1811, for almost 200 years, 155 individuals have served as Grand Masters, 37 as Grand Secretaries, 29 as Grand Treasurers and 39 as Grand Lecturers in this Grand Lodge. MWB Valentine Reintzel, our first Grand Master, served only one year, but from then on for about 70 years, the term of service varied, with a number of Grand Masters serving 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 years, and a few returning to the Grand East to serve 1, 2, 3 and 4 more years, anew. Benjamin B. French served terms of 5 and 3 years and George C. Whiting, after a 7-year term, returned to serve one more year. However, since 1886, all Grand Masters, with one exception, have served 1 year only. (N. Norman Engleberg, Grand Master died on 17 February, 1972 and Frank A. Kenyon, DGM, served as Grand Master in 1972 and 1973.) Grand Secretaries, Grand Treasurers and Grand Lecturers, have generally served multiple terms: of the Grand Secretaries, William R. Singleton served 25 years, Arvine W. Johnson 23 years, J. Claude Keiper 21 years and Stewart W. Miner, 18 years. Grand Treasurers have also enjoyed longevity in office: Charles E. Baldwin served 38 years, Robert F. Sutphin 20 years, Christopher Commack 18 years
and James A. Sample and Dean Hill Stanley, each 14 years. It should be noted that there is no mention in our records of a Grand Lecturer until 1833, although at times we note a reference to a committee which may have actually performed the duties such as that of a Grand Lecturer. Of the long serving Grand Lecturers mention may be made of Thomas H. Young, 21 years, Joseph Hamacher and Carl R. Le Vine, 16 years, Edward E. Bageant, 14 years, Aubrey H. Clayton, 13 years, George W. Feidt, 11 years and Stafford Appel, 10 years. The large number of Grand Masters who have presided over this grand jurisdiction in the past two centuries, speaks to the fact that a majority of them served only a single one-year term, pointing to the notion that founders of the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia, as is the case in most grand jurisdictions, considered a one-year term long enough for the leader of a geographically small jurisdiction. However, with due attention to the relative brevity of the Grand Masters’ term of office, it has traditionally been deemed prudent to have Grand Secretaries, Grand Treasurers and, later on, Grand Lecturers as well as Grand Lodge Trustees, serve multiple years in order to ensure continuity and preserve organizational memory. n
Grand Master of Maryland Honored The Grand Lodge, at the October 24, 2009 Annual Communication, approved the conferral of the title of Honorary Past Grand Master on MWB Thomas M. Velvin, Jr., the current Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Maryland. A certificate testifying to this action was presented to MWB Velvin at the annual communication of his Grand Lodge, on Saturday, November 14, by MWB Acquaah, who on that occasion was accompanied by a large delegation of D.C. Masons. By this action, MWB Velvin becomes the second Grand Master of Maryland to be so honored, the first being MWB Roy Stetler, now deceased.
MWB Acquaah presents MWB Velvin with his Honorary Past Grand Master certificate.
The Voice of Freemasonry
25
